PLAYA DEL CARMEN, QR- A new line of investigation opened the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) regarding the case of the leader of the Confederation of Workers of Mexico (CTM), José Isidro Santamaría Casanova, who points to the Chapur Zahoul brothers, owners of at least 18 companies located in the states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Jalisco, and Baja California.
According to Sol Quintana Roo, according to testimonies collected by experts from the FGR, Santamaría Casanova would be related to the supply of foreign and national sex workers in some of the Chapur Zahoul family’s lodging centers, where he precisely dominates the workers of the CTM.
According to sources from the FGR, it was through dissatisfied workers at the lodging centers, especially the Hard Rock Riviera Maya and Cancun, that the new line of investigation was obtained.
Tired of the labor exploitation that workers experience on a daily basis by Roberto Chapur Zahoul’s stalwarts and supported by the union delegates of the CTM, this is how they decided to denounce sex trafficking with exclusive hotel guests.
There are at least 30 national and foreign women who are offering sex service in the Roberto Chapur hotels and who are sent in vehicles related to the CTM directed by Isidro Santamaría Casanova.
As it will be recalled, the First District Judge based in the city of Cancun issued two years of informal preventive detention to Isidro Santamaría Casanova, as a precautionary measure for his alleged involvement in the crime of human trafficking for which he was arrested on the 25th. July, according to the process derived from the administrative folder 183/2019.
José Isidro Santamaría Casanova has led the CTM for 28 years since 1991; In 2017, he was elected for a six-year term that runs until 2023.
During his leadership, the trade unionist has been involved in different incidents, such as last year, when armed individuals attacked the CTM facilities with bullets.
The CTM leader is related to the Dassan nudist center, on Kukulcán Boulevard, which is run by one of his brothers. In addition, he owned the Executive and Divas located in the hotel zone.
According to the investigation folder 183/2019, in March 2019, it states that a foreign woman declared that she came to Mexico because she was offered to work in a hotel, but that when she arrived in our country they told her that she had to work in a nightclub where she had to dance naked and have sex with clients.
The victim said that the day she arrived on Mexican soil, they took her to a house to start working shortly; However, because her suitcase did not arrive, a cleaning employee took her to the airport and after collecting her belongings, she went to the National Migration Institute (INM) to request help.
After this complaint and the result of the investigations at the Dassan bar, where the alleged victim would work, the Federal Ministerial Police managed to establish that crimes such as drug sales were committed in the bar, which is why a search warrant was obtained for said establishment.
During the action, 51 foreign women were rescued, who worked as dancers; However, none of them had immigration papers, so they were secured and transferred to the INM in the city of Chetumal.
On the other hand, it was also learned that the union conflict that the Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM) is waging against the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants (CROC) in Quintana Roo is orchestrated by José Isidro Santamaría Casanova from prison.
In complicity with Roberto Chapur Zahoul, owner of the Hard Rock hotel chain, the CTM union leader Santamaría Casanova, imprisoned for the alleged crimes of human trafficking, orders the submission of the workers to take away any labor rights.
The same happens in 18 other companies in Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Jalisco and Baja California, including the Moon Palace hotel complex, owned by the Chapur Zahoul against union democracy, and with the petty intention of not only exploiting the workers but also to keep his tips that annually add up to several million pesos.
However, the relationship between Isidro Santamaría and Roberto Chapur Zahoul has been going on for several years. According to versions of those close to the CTM, the first contract that the CTM obtained with Roberto Chapur was before the opening of the Hard Rock Hotel in Los Cabos.
Since then, Isidro Santamaría has applied what he understands as a union: He picks up his mochada “bribe” in exchange for leaving the workers behind, without union defense. To be represented by the union in Los Cabos, Isidro Santamaría appoints Damián Velázquez as his “liaison”.
It is said that Roberto Chapur Zahoul is a Yucatecan businessman of Lebanese origin who started in the hospitality business at the beginning of Carlos Salinas de Gortari’s administration. He dedicated himself to the sale of timeshares, and thanks to his “contacts” he obtained financing to acquire and build various hotels, first in Cancun and then in the Riviera Maya and various destinations in the Republic. Today he owns at least 18 companies related to hotels, car rental, among others.
Isidro Santamaría, imprisoned for the alleged crime of trafficking in women, is a corrupt union leader who sells protection contracts to hoteliers. In addition, he is a protector of the Chapur businesses.
Source: almomento.mx
